Does D.C. strike you as a Northern or Southern city? (Washington: live, design)

[BKmachine]

I know technically its in the south (Anything below the Mason-Dixon line is of course) but I never really considered D.C. to be southern, but there are a lot of remnants of a southern past here culture wise. But I notice that if you go a little up north, like the Baltimore area that people's accents change to reflect the northeastern culture that Philly, NJ and NY have. Whats your take on this?

[goldenhearts]

I personally think it a Northern city. I used to visit inlaws in dc all the time and they have thick accents. They talk like the people in Philly. Im from va the southern part and the people in dc are always talking about how southern i talk! LOL

[hiker16]

Neither. It's a "global city", like NYC, or Miami (granted the population is much smaller). Very few are really from here; people come from across the country, and internationally.

Miami certainly doesn't feel "southern" (except for temperatures); NYC doesn't really feel "northern" (in the sense that Boston, Portland, Philly, Pittsubrugh are northern).

[DCSailor]

As JFK said, "A city with Northern hospitality and southern efficiency."

It's neither northern -- like NY, Philly or Boston -- nor Southern like Raleigh, Richmond, or even Baltimore.

[treebw]

I worked in DC for a few months with a lot of people born and raised in DC; from that aspect it seems southern to me. The people (I shoud be correct and say 'some' of the people) born and bred here have a very southern quality about them. Besides that, I will agree that DC is more of a 'global city'.

[toosie]

I'm from Pittsburgh and lived in DC/Northern VA for years. It feels north/northeastern to me - with a dab of whatever midwestern that Pittsburgh has. People there are too edgy for it to feel southern or western to me.

[RaisedWell]

Originally Posted by hiker16

Neither. It's a "global city", like NYC, or Miami (granted the population is much smaller). Very few are really from here; people come from across the country, and internationally.

Naw, you need to meet more people. There are many native Washingtonians.

[WDCJoe]

I believe that this topic has been hacked to death!

[terrence81]

True. But I can't resist. Yes DC is below the mason dixon line but no it is not Southern. There are a lot of people here that are from the southern more so than say NYC or Boston so that might be part of the confusion. I was reading an article in the Post that talked how so many black folks from the south migrated here 50 or 60 years ago. They brought a lot of that southern culture with them. But there have been enough newcomers from other places both black and white that have diluted any of that southern culture.

Also historically DC was designed as a bridge of north and south.

[DomRep]

I think it's northern. I get a big city feel, ala NYC, Miami, or LA. But it also has it's southern culture, but I think it's more northern.